LOS ANGELES (KNX) - On Wednesday, former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the next U.S. ambassador to India.
In the 52-42 vote, seven Republicans voted in favor of the appointment while three Democrats voted nay.
One of those Democrats, Sen. Mazie Hirono, told reporters she voted against Garcetti after she was given "credible information", but did not elaborate on that information was.
President Joe Biden first nominated Garcetti for the post on July 9, 2021, and then re-nominated him in January following a stall in the initial nomination.
The first delay came in March 2022 after Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) objected due to “numerous credible allegations from multiple whistleblowers" that claimed Garcetti had knowledge of sexual harassment and assaults made by his then-deputy chief of staff, Rick Jacobs, against city employees.
Following an investigation, Grassley released a report in May in which he concluded that Garcetti “more likely than not” was aware of Jacobs' behavior. Garcetti has continued to deny this.
"I think we got through because we were able to spend time directly with Senators and present to them individuals who rebutted under oath the idea that I would ever see something or know something and not do something about it," he said on KNX In Depth. "It stands against everything I've ever done and the person I've ever been,"
He added, "Repeating untruths over and over again doesn't make them true. Once we got before both Republicans and Democrats in a very partisan moment, today's vote was very strong with Republicans as well as Democrats seeing through those allegations."
Despite the stall in his ambassadorship, Garcetti continued his work as mayor before officially leaving office in December 2022.
"As my mom said, God wanted me to serve until my last day as mayor," he said.
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